Postilla Super Epistolas Et Evangelia Incunable

[germany (blaubeuren?)]: Printer of Lotharius (Conrad Mancz?). Good with no dust jacket. [1474]. First Edition Thus. Hardcover. This extremely rare, imposing and thick folio presents something of a mystery. It is 279 of 281 ff, lacking first two preliminary leaves, in handsome contemporary stamped leather over wooden boards. Initials supplied in red with many foliated and trailing, rubricated throughout, 30 lines, Gothic letter, lacking clasps. Wide-margined paper, handsomely and clearly printed, unsigned, early probably contemporary hand pagination throughout but often misnumbered; still collates complete except for the preliminary leaf/leaves. Interestingly, while collating, we realised that the first 7 leaves correspond to ISTC ig00644000, the rest to ig00645000 (both from the same printer, the same year) , with no text missing. The early leaf numbering and hand-written headers are in the same hand throughout, giving rise to the speculation that this was an early marriage, quite possibly done at the print shop or the bindery. Front board is off, spine label frayed, boards worn and rubbed. A number of different manuscript waste pieces were used in the binding, along with two early printed, both substantial. There is some damp staining at the front and back, the first initial is smeared because of that, leaf 7 is detached, there is some worming, numerous intriguing annotations in the margins and text, in a few different hands, all old. A quite scarce incunabulum with only a very few copies in the auction records and just a few in libraries in North America and Great Britain. The printer is thought to be Conrad Mancz, the first printer of Blaubeuren, Germany, who was associated with the mysterious printer of Lotharius, (Peter Amelung, Die Frhdruck im deutschen Sudwesten, Stuttgart 1979, I, p. Xvii). He is credited with only a few works, none of them dated. He is known to have worked from 1473 or 1474 to 1478. Brother Guillermus, known only via the introduction to this work, described himself as a Dominican and a professor of theology at Paris, but nothing else is known of him. The Postilla provided commentary on the New Testament, specifically excerpts from the Epistles and the Evangelists, more commonly called lessons, to be read on Sundays and feast days. It was quite popular, printed in over 100 editions in the 15th century and surviving in numerous early manuscripts. Its authorship still remains uncertain, but current consensus recognises much of it as coming from Johannes Herolt’s work. Herolt (c1386-1468) , called Discipulus, a Dominican friar of Basel, was widely popular as a preacher in the late Medieval period, and "the most prolific, skillful and honored writer of sermon books in 15th century Europe." He was considered the most outstanding sermon writer of his day in Germany and a teacher of the best model of preaching. Said a contemporary of Herolt’s, "No one should be surprised that this man is lauded, that praises are heaped on him, that he is acclaimed, since he is most certainly held in common esteem as pre-eminent among modern sermonists." Herolt was known to draw on a rich variety of medieval sources for his works and this book has been called a veritable "harvest of medieval preaching." A very scarce early and important example of this popular work, with interesting examples of the handwork involved in producing this incunabulum, as well as the scholarly attention given it in its early years. ; Folio 13" - 23" tall .